Going into the Rural Areas to Serve Them
Rev. Andrew Wong who came from a small town is the CEO of HISTEAM cum 7979 Bas Bahagia Organising Committee’s Chairman, he understands the difficulties faced by the underprivileged living in rural areas are much more than those underprivileged who live in the cities. Especially, when the health of elderlies who live in rural areas starts to deteriorate, they can hardly enjoy any health or medical benefits. Simultaneously, financial difficulties and transport inconveniences added more hurdles to their already challenging lives. In rural areas, the population is lower and usually lives in scattered. Therefore, when the elderly face any problem, they cannot seek assistance immediately. Similarly, when the church became aware of their condition, but due to limited resources and inadequate facilities, the church could not respond in the first instance.           
 
Looking at the hopeless and helpless condition of the elderlies and rural churches, Rev. Wong hoped that he could import “1919 Blessed Bus” project which was initiated by Taiwan CCRA (HISTEAM’s strategic partner) into Malaysia, to serve and bless the elderlies in the rural areas. This year, 7979 Bas Bahagia ministry which HISTEAM organised in Peninsular Malaysia is on a trial run. The purpose of this project is to bring available resources to small churches in rural areas, mobilise professionals of different services to serve those lonely rural areas’ elderlies and partner with local volunteers of 7979 Holistic Care Stations to serve together.
   
Few months before 7979 Bas Bahagia embarked on its journey, HISTEAM had signed MOU with those 7979 Holistic Care Stations. From then on, the care stations would identify 12 to 15 beneficiaries who would accept 7979 Bas Bahagia services and qualify by our requirements. For example, the elderly must be 55 years or above, comes from a financially disadvantaged family, and lastly, ensure the elderly can be present for the event. In order for the elderly to enjoy a personal and custom-made service, 7979 Bas Bahagia organising committee partnered with care stations to get the exact measurements for their clothing and shoes. Besides this, the volunteers of care stations would actively follow up on the beneficiaries’ conditions and remind them repeatedly to present on the day of the event.       
 
From 26th August till 2nd September of this year, for a total of 8 days, a bus filled with volunteers travelled across 4 states (Pahang, Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan) to 8 small towns to serve the elderly in rural areas. The morning of the opening ceremony was sunny and bright, a group of volunteers with turquoise colour T-shirts gathered at Seremban Agape Community Church, preparing to welcome a new project - “Bas Bahagia - Warming Up Your Heart” (trial run). When all the volunteers received the blessing from HISTEAM's Director - Rev. Paulus Wong’s benediction, everyone joyously boarded the bus and embarked on an 8-day journey!      

​Everyone Works Harmoniously on Their Assigned Position                                      
The driver was driving a bus with the sticker “7979 Bas Bahagia - Warming Up Your Heart”, fearless of the distance that the journey would take, he drove close to 40 volunteers across 4 states to 8 small towns, to work with local volunteers of 7979 Holistic Care Stations, giving away 120 bags of souvenirs to the elderly. Among those elderlies who received our souvenir, only 105 of them attended our event and received our services, the other 15 were absent because of some reasons (such as deaths and illnesses). For the remaining elderlies who could not attend and receive services, volunteers of 7979 Holistic Care Station would pay a visit to them to deliver the souvenirs. Professional services offered by 7979 Bas Bahagia were ultrasound scans (98 individuals), oral care (92 individuals), manicures (92 individuals), and hairstyling (92 individuals). There were also other services such as emotional and spiritual care, dress-up services, and Polaroid photo taking. Every volunteer served the elderly dedicatedly on their assigned task, so that they may experience quality services.               

​7979 Holistic Care Stations that participated in Bas Bahagia project were：

• Full Gospel Mission Centre Jelebu (Titi New Village, Negeri Sembilan)
• Triang Christian Church (Pahang)
• New Wine Mission (Bentong, Pahang)
• Gereja Christian Jerantut (Pahang)
• Jasin Gospel Hall (Malacca)
• Gereja Presbyterian Segamat (Johor)
• Bahau Chinese Methodist Church (Negeri Sembilan)
• Agape Community Church Seremban (Negeri Sembilan)
• Seremban Praise Sanctuary (Negeri Sembilan)
• Church Revival Centre (Seremban, Negeri Sembilan)
• Gereja Presbyterian Seremban (Negeri Sembilan)  

So Good to Have Elderly Volunteers with Us
7979 Bas Bahagia program flow mainly has warm-up activities, a dentist giving a talk on oral care, hairstyling, manicure and pedicure, dressing services, photo taking and souvenirs, etc.   
 
Taking into consideration the hesitation the elderly might have when receiving each service, the organiser specifically arranged Angels Dance Troupe to lead the audience in some warm-up activities before and after each service. “When the elderly start to sing and dance, they’ll automatically relax and put down their guard and accept our services, only then, we can engage in conversation without any difficulties.” Elder Lee, a co-worker of HISTEAM explained the purpose of warming-up activities. Angels Dance Troupe is a volunteer group formed by a group of elderlies, their age is similar to those elderlies that 7979 Bas Bahagia is serving. It was so good to have the involvement of elderly volunteers in this 7979 Bas Bahagia trip.        

A Gift from a Genuine Heart
At the end of our program, the volunteers would personally hand over the souvenirs to every beneficiary, in hoping that they might feel the volunteers’ love and care. The souvenirs are really good stuff, we have health food and supplements in them. All these gifts were donated by kind-hearted business enterprises, such as Nano Food, Secret Recipe, Caring Pharmacy, Hovid and Beacon Hospital. We are thankful for their sponsorship or donation to 7979 Bas Bahagia whether in the form of gifts, clothing, dress-up gift packs, or other resources.
 
Other than the support received from sponsors, 7979 Bas Bahagia also received a total offering of RM201,360.65. We want to thank all donors for giving us strong support through monetary offerings that have ensured everything can be run smoothly. Thus, many more elderly will be able to enjoy these awesome blessings.  

​Real Blessing Joy Would Leave a Beautiful Memory 
The closing ceremony was held at Agape Community Church Seremban in the afternoon at the end of 8 days of services. Senior Pastor of Agape Community Church Seremban, Rev. Paulus Wong, cum HISTEAM’s BOD member gave the speech. He said, that with our nation’s obvious increase aging population, he hopes that through this project more underprivileged elderly will be cared for.     

Rev. Paulus Wong said,
​“Real blessing and joy would leave beautiful memories 
to the elderlies.” 

Meaning that caring for others would let them feel blessed and be filled with joy, 
hence leaving a beautiful memory behind.  ​

There is a century-old new village in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan - Kampung Titi. Although there is the word "port" in the Chinese name “Zhi Zhi Port”, Titi has no port. In fact, Titi is an inland area surrounded by mountains and rich in natural resources. According to the sixth episode of the "8TV" YouTube channel "After the New Village", "Zhi Zhi" is transliterated from the Malay Titi (small bridge). Because it is the basin of small rivers, it is commonly called "port" by residents, which is the origin of the name Kampung Titi.

Kampung Titi, which seems to have a beautiful environment, suffered its worst flood two years ago on December 18, just before Christmas. At that time, 7979 teamed up with Love Seremban to mobilize 16 volunteers and set up a team to help the victims clean their houses after the flood in Kampung Titi. In addition to cleaning houses, volunteers on behalf of 7979 and Love Seremban distributed aid money to the victims. Rev Jacqueline Wong of the 7979 Holistic Care Station of Full Gospel Mission Centre Jelebu really appreciates what 7979 and Love Seremban did for them during the disaster relief. After the incident, some disaster victims wanted to express their gratitude by donating money to organizations that assisted them during the disaster, so they came to the church from a distance of 18 kilometres to donate RM 100, and it was a continuous donation. The pastor was moved by the actions of the victims and thanked the organizations that helped with the disaster relief.

Full Gospel Mission Centre Jelebu joined 7979 Holistic Care Relief Network and established 7979 Holistic Care Station for quite some time already. According to the pastor, the local elderlies are lonely and desperate to be loved and cared for. Full Gospel Mission Centre Jelebu has always been promoting care for the elderly, such as visitation. In normal times, the church would apply to Manna Food Bank for the elderly to meet their basic living needs. However, Pastor Jacqueline Wong sighed and commented on the small population in the township and the lack of manpower and material resources to help the elderly...

On August 26, 2023, the 7979 Holistic Care Station of Full Gospel Mission Centre Jelebu became the first stop of "7979 Bas Bahagia – Warming Up Your Heart" (trial run). "When I learned that the purpose of the 7979 Bas Bahagia is to go to the remote villages and help the underprivileged elderly. I decided to join the 7979 Bus Bahagia project. This is because there are many "lonely" elderly people living alone in the townships of Kampung Titi, for their children have been working away from home for a long time, and they rarely return home. As a result, the emotional and life aspects of the elderly are not attended to, and they also face economic and health issues." Pastor Jacqueline Wong explained the reasons why the church participated in the 7979 Bus Bahagia project. After listening to the pastor's sharing, I can feel her genuine concern for the elderly.
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When the elders received volunteer services, Pastor Jacqueline Wong was happy to see their faces beaming with happy smiles and they felt accepted here. Some elderlies have also changed their perception towards the church: they believe that the church is a place full of love regardless of class status.
​

Jerantut is Johor state’s biggest district, covering an area of 7,207.6 k㎡. It has many natural tourist spots, among them are: Gunung Tahan National Park, the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia, Bukit Buloh mangrove forest, Bukit Seladang and Lata Berembuan (lake and waterfall). Jerantut became popular because of all these nature spots that became tourist attractions.

​Other than natural sights, Jerantut has a shelter set up for the homeless, it is one of the five shelters set up by the Malaysian government. Since there is a shelter for the homeless, retired pastor Rev.Wok Mee hopes that the church can provide the elderly a platform to fellowship and relax. 7979 Holistic Care Station of Gereja Kristian Jerantut which she had been pastoring a few years ago, has always been involved in elderly ministry through Senior Citizen Fellowship, Praise Dance, etc. In the past, they had also applied for aid under the Crisis Intervention Fund for a few elderlies, to ease their financial burden.​

“Compared to those elderly living in the urban setting, the elderly in rural areas are less likely to be noticed by outsiders, unless we seek them out, or else they are not easily noticeable.  So,  we do not know where to find them.  Besides, due to the “face” (dignity) factor, their family members may feel reluctant to send them to relevant organizations to seek assistance.” Retired Rev.Wok Mee expressed her view on the elderly in rural areas. She knows that Jerantut has many elderly who lack attention and care, they are being neglected by their family members who are so busy with their matters that they don’t have time to talk with the elderly. These would only cause the elderly to feel more lonely and unbearable. “The Republic of China has ‘Unattended Children’, in Jerantut we have ‘Unattended Elderly’’. Knowledgeable Rev.Wok Mee has phrased the unattended elderly stranded at home perfectly.     ​

Year 2023 post-pandemic, HISTEAM decided to do one new thing for our beloved homeland, i.e. 7979 Bas Bahagia. In the last week of August this year, we gathered a group of service volunteers on board our 7979 Bas Bahagia traveling to Pahang, Johor, Malacca, and Negeri Sembilan’s small towns, to bring warmth to the elderly in the rural areas. Bas Bahagia ministry is still in a trial run phase for this year. We led a group of barbers, doctors, and dentists to serve the gramps and grannies in the rural area. Volunteers tagging along became the Angel Dance Troupe, manicurists and pedicurists, fashion consultants, counselors and pain therapists; whose services had warmed the hearts of all the gramps and grannies. In addition, we were also blessed by generous and loving sponsors, whose gracious gifts (health products and supplements) ensured all gramps and grannies who joined our meetings at every station went back home with broad smiles on their faces.  
       
Malaysia experienced a change of government during the post-pandemic. These are the times, when people are hungry for spiritual and material fulfilment, and gaps between generations become wider. One of the signs of End Times is people are becoming more cold-hearted. One of the things I felt that I must do in this season, and without any further delay is to initiate Bas Bahagia. According to the 2020 census, the population above 65 years old had increased from 1.4 million (5%) in the year 2010 to 2.20 million (6.8%). Estimating by 2030, Malaysia will face challenges from the aging population, of which 60 years and above will take up 15.3% of the total population.   [1] 

Bas Bahagia ministry's ultimate goal is to let the elderly feel our genuine concern and warmth. I as the ministry initiator had witnessed throughout the journey, how the volunteers and our co-workers tenderly conversed with those beloved gramps and grannies. The team had really given it all and worked tirelessly. As a result of their tireless effort, we saw smiles on the faces of all those gramps and grannies, some had shared with tears in their eyes: “Even my children are not so considerate.” 2 months before we reached there, our 7979 Care Stations’ volunteers had already met up with 124 elderlies to measure their height and shoe size to ensure they would receive proper fitting clothing and shoes. However, only 109 elderly people turned up for our gathering, many couldn’t make it due to illness, accidents, or early “migration”. This became a wake-up call to all volunteers and everyone involved, it reminded us to do kindness and express filial affection when we still have the time.
           
I, on behalf of HISTEAM and 7979 Bas Bahagia organising committee, would like to thank you for your love and sponsorship. We hope that every year, Bas Bahagia will travel to more unknown rural villages in Malaysia, bringing abundant gifts and warmth to their hands and hearts. We welcome you to set aside some of your time to join our 2024 Bas Bahagia trip, so that we may experience the laughters, sweats and tears of serving together on this trip.    ​